Monday, September 30, 2013

Last weekend we took the girls to Kings Dominion to check out their #PlanetSpooky! For the month of October they've transformed their Planet Snoopy kids area of the park into a fun Fall/Halloween theme. Our 5 year old was tall enough to ride all but one or two of the rides, which was great. However, it took us forever to get her on the first one because she wanted to walk around to see EVERYTHING before she made her choice of what to go on! Five year olds..... ;)

I can't blame her though, the Planet Spooky park had so much to chose from. One of her favorite things was Franklin's Scarecrow Hollow which featured a maze made of corn & hay. She liked this the best because her younger sister could do it with her, along with the foam pit at Pig Pen's People Washer. So sweet! She really enjoyed riding her first two roller coasters, Snoopy's Rocket Express & the Great Pumpkin Coaster. Charlie Brown's Wind Up Swings were fun to ride with her dad. The smile on her face when we finally pulled her out of Snoopy's Moon Bounce reminded me of how much I loved those bounce houses when I was little!

She loved being able to pick out her own little pumpkin to decorate and to take home from Sally's Pumpkin Painting Patch.

We also did a little trick-or-treating with the Dinosaurs which was really cool & better than we expected. We capped our day off with a visit up the Eiffel Tower & then some singing & dancing with the PEANUT'S Rockin' Party and our sweet girls were done!

We headed home with smiles on our faces as we couldn't of asked for a better day. Mild temperatures, everyone happy & on their best behaviors, great rides and a few yummy treats = a great day!

Disclosure: We were provided with tickets to check out #PlanetSpooky at Kings Dominion. The opinions are solely my own.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Every since we started a family - I've really enjoyed making & sending photo holiday cards. I also really enjoy receiving them from friends a family. I think they are a wonderful way to share holiday greetings, along with pictures of what you treasure most in life, with everyone!

The holiday season is also an important time to donate to the less fortunate. Cardraising.com makes donating money to a charity or school you care about easy and efficient. By simply
ordering customizable holiday cards from Cardraising.com, 30 percent of EVERY PURCHASE will go to the school or charity of the customer’s choice.

They have a beautiful selection of holiday, graduation & birth announcement photo cards. You can select any participating local charity, church, school or youth sport for your purchase donation to go towards.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Gas takes up a huge portion of our household budget each month. We really can't do much about what the price of gas is - however, we can actually change how much we pay for it at the pump! My family always takes advantage of our local grocers fuel rewards & now with the new Fuel Rewards Network Program, there are many new ways to save!

The
new Fuel Rewards Network program – or FRN™ – is available at
participating Shell stations in more than 100 markets throughout the
U.S. and will be available in nearly 200 by the end of the year . FRN empowers consumers to lower their fuel prices significantly with everyday purchases. Never pay full price at the pump again!The
FRN program offers multiple ways to earn rewards through everyday
purchases of things like food, clothing and household goods, which can be
redeemed for fuel savings at participating Shell stations.

There
are multiple ways for local consumers to save with the Fuel Rewards
Network program including:

oOnline Mall
– Access nearly 700 brand name online merchants offering 5 cents per
gallon for every $50 spent. Some online merchants may offer 2x, 5x, 10x
rewards or more – so consumers can multiply their savings!oDining – Earn 10 cents per gallon for every $50 spent when dining at more than 10,000 participating restaurant locations nationwide.oeCoupons
– Digital coupons available for select retailers in select markets
provide additional cents per gallon savings when the digital coupon is
selected at fuelrewards.com and the item is subsequently purchased at a participating retailer.oGrocery and Other Programs
– Consumers can buy the everyday things they need and earn Fuel Rewards
savings from participating Jewel-Osco stores and retailers. Consumers
just link their participating grocer or other retailer loyalty card to
their FRN Account to combine their rewards for even more savings at the
pump at Shell in select markets.oShell Fuel Rewards
– Purchase specially marked products inside the convenience store as
well as car washes and auto services at participating Shell stations and
earn Fuel Rewards savings.·The
program is unique because it allows consumers to combine or stack
multiple rewards offers – or cents-per-gallon discounts – together for
potentially huge savings right at the pump. Imagine taking as much as
one, two, three dollars or more off per gallon on your next fuel
purchase!

The FRN program is FREE – just pick up a Fuel Rewards Network Card at a participating Shell station, then activate it online at fuelrewards.com. Consumers can also request a Fuel Rewards Network Card online at fuelrewards.com. You can learn more about the Fuel Rewards Network program and track your fuel savings by visiting fuelrewards.com and you can view a video on how the program works here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdqFvZiQZLM

WIN IT: I'm giving away four (4) Fuel Rewards Network Cards that have been preloaded with $1.50/gallon saving,s for one fill up! Enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway**NOTE:
Ways to save and Shell station participation vary by market. Depending
on where your live - you may or may not have access to all or any
of these ways to save.

Disclosure: I was provided with a FRN card & the four FRN cards to giveaway, for my review. All opinions are my own.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Here is a sweet sweet snapshot I grabbed of the girls this week. Nothing sweeter than sisters!

I'm still here! Just starting to resurface after the hospitalized bedrest, csection and recovery, adjusting to 2 children - add some reflux, colic & some postpartum anxiety in there - and the past (almost) 4 months have basically been a blur!

What we are really enjoying is the love between sisters! We are truly blessed!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Pictured above is my haul from last year's challenge where I spent $9.89 out of pocket for a total of $154.72 worth of school supplies - a savings of 93.61%!

A little Frugal Challenge history: The #RVA Frugal Challenge began in 2010 when Alison, from Richmond Bargains, challenged a few of us fellow local frugal bloggers to a
friendly competition to see who could stretch a small budget the
furthest. The four of us spent $40 to accumulate $500 worth of
supplies to donate to the Fulton Hill Neighborhood Resource Center.
Here's my recap post from the first School Supply Challenge from August 2010.

Last
year, with help from Kroger and the Hodges Partnership, we opened the challenge up to
anyone who was interested and 16 shoppers collected over $3,000 worth of supplies to donate to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond. You can read my recap post here. The winner,
Erin McGarvey, stretched $10 to get $567.74 worth!(!) Which was a 98.2% savings!

The Challenge begins again,TODAY! - Please join us!

Why should you participate?

A. It's
a great cause. Well, it will be for a great cause - kids! :) We;re still
finalizing exactly which of many worthwhile Richmond organizations will
receive this year's supplies, and will update that information as soon
as I can.

B. It's
fun. If you've never tried, you'll be surprised how many school
supplies $10 buys when you are shopping the back-to-school deals!

C. You might win a prize. Those who accept the challenge this year will be eligible to win some cool prizes from generous sponsors:

You can spend a maximum of $10, excluding tax. Rebates do not count to your total.Save
all your receipts, and keep records of your spending and saving
(including where and when you made purchases, what the retail value was,
what discounts you used, and how much you spent) There is a spreadsheet
available on Google Docs if you could use help with the calculations. Go here.Your
final total - how much you spent, and the total retail value of items -
must be submitted by Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at noon EDT. SUBMIT
TOTALS USING THIS FORM.

On
Wednesday, August 15th, we will gather at Tuckahoe Library (1901
Starling Drive, Henrico, VA 23229) at 4pm to collect everyone's
collections, recognize the top frugal shoppers, and to select prize
winners. If you can't make it at that time, one of us will be happy to make other arrangements with you to pick up your stuff.

To be eligible to win one of the prizes, you must collect at least $40 retail value worth of supplies with your $10 budget (75%
savings). This is so easy to do & we're almost insulting your frugal
intelligences by making it the minimum. (If it sounds daunting, we'd be
happy to give you some ideas of where to start!) The point of the
challenge is to challenge yourself! You must also provide your receipts
and documentation if you are selected a winner, but you don't have to be
present on August 15th to win.

More
fine print: No more than one prize per person. Participants will be
assigned a number based on when their totals were received (first = 1),
and from the total number of eligible participants, Random.org will be
used to select the winning numbers. Donation must be received before
prize is distributed.

Questions? Shoot! You can also hang out on the RVA Coupon Pros Facebook page to ask questions, share tips or photos, etc.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sorry for the delay in posting. Had to endure two rounds (24 hours) of Mag Sulfate yesterday & it was not a good feeling for me, and a long day for us all. Plus Blogger is being a PITA and not letting me upload pics, so i'll do that later.

Kinley Brooks Ross made her arrival at 7:25pm last night. She weighed 7lbs 3.8ozs & was 19.5 inches long. She is just beautiful & looks a lot like her big sister did when she was born. We are all doing well & have our fingers crossed to be released tomorrow.

Thank you all for all of your thoughts & prayers. We greatly appreciate them!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Here we are - we have 7 days to go & i'm back in the hospital. First I have to tell you that I keep saying that this is the "Final Countdown" and each time I hear this song, "Its the Final Countdown" by Europe in my head. Horrible, I know, but that's what hospitalized bed rest will do for you! lol!

My appointment Friday didn't go so well & my blood pressures were up. I have no idea what happened because they had been doing well at home & i'd made it through 4 other OB appointments & managed to pass & be allowed to head back home. My OB was out of the office last week so I saw two of her partners. Made it though one but not the other. Funny, the one on Friday, Dr. C. - she was the one who put me in the hospital the first time, back in early April! I really do like her so i'm not sure how we don't mesh well with my blood pressures during my appointments where I see her. In the end, my Maternal Fetal Specialist who oversees my care told her that if I threw blood pressure numbers like that again, then they would have to deliver me. So we agreed to keep me put here for the remainder, instead of risking me repeating the blood pressure episode at one of my two appointments this week and ending up having to deliver a few days earlier than planned.

Anyways, I made it 2.5 weeks at home & for that we are so thankful. It was really nice and really helped with some extra quality time spent with my bug. She is doing much better this time around as we had a lot of time to talk and answer any questions she had. We also reminded her before each appointment that I went to, that if the Drs. wished to watch the baby grow more closely, then I would have to come back in the hospital. So I think we were all prepared better this time around & she's seemed to of done well, thankfully.

We are scheduled super late in the day on next Tuesday. So it's going to be a long day. I'm also due for a lovely round of Mag Sulfate after delivery since I do fall into the mild preeclampsia category. So we will update everyone but don't expect to see anything here until late Wednesday or maybe even Thursday, depending on how I feel - since Mag Sulfate should truly be used as a form of torture.... thoughts & prayers are welcomed for us all. We are very excited to meet our newest little one & to complete our family.

Monday, May 7, 2012

No need to leave the comforts of your home to shop for all of your favorite Thirty-One Gifts Items! The Summer 2012 Catalog has been released & is packed full of beautiful items & designs! During the month of May - for every $31 you spend you can get an All-In-One Organizer for just $5!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

I'm so excited to have joined the Thirty-one Team! Today is the perfect time to check out the great product offers from Thirty-one, as the new Summer 2012 Catalog has just been released! It’s full of great products that you, your friends and family will love!

During the month of May - for every $31 you spend you can get an All-In-One Organizer for just $5!

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About Me

I am a SAHM in the Richmond, Virginia area and have been married to my wonderful husband Brian for six years. Before my current mommy venture, I had a rewarding job with VCU for four years.
During my pregnancy - it didn't seem possible for me not to work once we started a family. However the moment I held our daughter Lyla, looked into her eyes & smelled her sweet newborn breath, my direction in life was forever changed.
So now living & enjoying life as a family, on less, is our new mission. I am still learning - so bare with me! Here is where I will post any money saving tips in general or specifically in the Richmond, Virginia area that I come across in hopes that my family, friends & readers can benefit also!